EU Pig Prices Fall Second Week as Hogs Slide in Germany, France

European Union pig prices fell for a
second week as hogs declined in Germany, Spain and France, the
bloc’s biggest producers, industry group Interessengemeinschaft
der Schweinehalter Deutschlands e.V. reported.

German prices fell to 1.676 euros ($2.20) a kilogram (2.2
pounds), the lowest since August, from 1.726 euros the previous
week, Damme, Germany-based ISN wrote in a report on its website
today. Prices in Spain fell for a seventh week, the group said.

Europeans will probably eat less pork this year and next
year on a combination of high domestic prices and economic
recession, with per-capita consumption falling to 40.3 kilograms
in 2013 from 41.5 kilograms last year and 41.2 in 2012, the bloc
forecast in September. Pork accounts for about half of meat
consumption in the 27-nation bloc.

“One thing all the EU countries have to deal with,
directly or indirectly, are the slow-paced exports,” ISN wrote.
“At the same time there’s sufficient supply across Europe with
some clearly higher slaughter weights.”

Spanish prices fell to 1.756 euros a kilogram from 1.774
euros last week, while French prices dropped a second week to
1.659 euros a kilogram from 1.703 euros a kilogram a week ago.

The cost of hogs also fell in the Netherlands, Belgium and
Austria, and was little changed in Denmark at 1.798 euros a
kilogram after rising last week.

“Once again the Danish hog breeders are not affected by
the price declines,” ISN wrote. “Here the offer is relatively
tight, so the price here is quoted unchanged.”